Editorial: Schools, bus companies should revise 9-1-1 policy

Published
4:03 pm EDT, Wednesday, March 30, 2016

With her daughter Janya Adonai, 14, of Meriden, left, Gwen Samuel of Meriden, right, interim director of the New Haven based advocacy group Teach Our Children, shouts into a bullhorn on the steps of New Haven City Hall March 18. less

With her daughter Janya Adonai, 14, of Meriden, left, Gwen Samuel of Meriden, right, interim director of the New Haven based advocacy group Teach Our Children, shouts into a bullhorn on the steps of New Haven ... more

Photo: Peter Hvizdak — New Haven Register FILE PHOTO

Photo: Peter Hvizdak — New Haven Register FILE PHOTO

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With her daughter Janya Adonai, 14, of Meriden, left, Gwen Samuel of Meriden, right, interim director of the New Haven based advocacy group Teach Our Children, shouts into a bullhorn on the steps of New Haven City Hall March 18. less

With her daughter Janya Adonai, 14, of Meriden, left, Gwen Samuel of Meriden, right, interim director of the New Haven based advocacy group Teach Our Children, shouts into a bullhorn on the steps of New Haven ... more

Photo: Peter Hvizdak — New Haven Register FILE PHOTO

Editorial: Schools, bus companies should revise 9-1-1 policy

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When an emergency arises and seconds count to save a life, the one number that has been drilled into the mind of every American since he or she learned how to use a phone is 9-1-1.

Nationwide, whether it’s a child of 5 or an octogenarian of 85, since 9-1-1 was put into widespread practice decades ago, it is the number to call when help is immediately needed.

Except if it’s a school bus driver for many companies.

In that case, the company gets the first call.

And that’s a policy some people want to change.

One year after the death of TaLea Turnage, 8, on a New Haven school bus, a group of advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall and called for that policy to be changed to allow school bus drivers to dial 9-1-1.

TaLea, a Lincoln-Bassett Elementary School student, was found unconscious on a school bus March 16, 2015, and died two days later.

The bus driver for First Student followed protocol and contacted his company’s dispatch but never dialed 9-1-1.

Gwen Samuel, interim director of New Haven-based advocacy group Teach Our Children, wonders whether TaLea would be alive today if 9-1-1 was the first number dialed, and says the policy in place is “so wrong on so many levels.”

We are troubled as to why school bus drivers are trained and directed to call the company first.

City spokesman Laurence Grotheer defended the policy and, after what he called an extensive review, issued a statement that “the district’s policies and protocol are in line with the highest industry standards. The nationwide school transportation industry practice directing medical emergencies through dispatch not only pinpoints the location of the affected bus, but allows a range of first responders to coordinate an immediate response.”

Brenda Bass, chairman of the Connecticut School Transportation Association Safety Council, said the policy is in place for two reasons: Connecticut law prevents anyone from using a cellphone while a vehicle is in operation, and it’s more efficient for bus drivers to use the two-way radio at their disposal to contact dispatch, which puts the emergency response in motion.

Sounds reasonable, but we still see no reason why 9-1-1 isn’t the first call placed in an emergency when a vehicle is not in motion.

Approximately 96 percent of the United States is covered by some type of 9-1-1. The number became the national emergency number in 1968. Since that time, first responders getting the call through 9-1-1 dispatchers have saved millions of lives in probably every scenario imaginable.

Why should that change simply because children are on a school bus?

We applaud the efforts of the small group advocating for a policy change. Their efforts contribute to a needed conversation. We don’t know whether a different policy would have helped TaLea. But there is simply no room for error when it comes to the health and safety of children, and every second matters in a medical emergency. First Student’s policies meet the industry standard, but there is a grieving mother out there who believes that standard falls short.